The Insurgency, Outtake  Edward Buys Bella
by 4MeJasper
Summary: This is an outtake from my story the Insurgency.  It contains an alternate introduction between Bella and Carlisle.  This version is much darker.  Edward buys Bella from a pound, and Jasper and Emmett nearly attack her on the Cullen lawn as she arrives.
1. Chapter 1

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

This story is an outtake from my story "The Insurgency". These two chapters show an alternate version of the introduction between Bella and Carlisle and replace chapters 7-11 of "the Insurgency". I had originally intended this to be a one-shot, but it's turning out to be a bit longer than I thought, so it will have two chapters.

Chapter 1: From the Pound to the Yard

Day 6937 (June 29, 2039)

(Bella's POV)

Waiting in a holding cage must be the definition of the words tedium and boredom. I wonder if those words were created by someone who was incarcerated, I thought as I stared through the bars of the cage I sat in at the Seattle pound. The main part of the mission was over, now I just had to wait until I could blow out of here.

One of the colony girls, Marie, had gotten her fool self picked up, and even though I had been ordered by the Human Council to stand down and cease all rescue operations, I had been snookered into finding her.

We had heard rumors of the Seattle pound acting as a cover, a drop off point for trackers to send girls to brothels or other forms of sex slavery. The pounds were different from the human confinement facilities. Pounds were primarily supposed to hold humans who had escaped while their owners were contacted, or humans who were being held pending trial for rules violations.

This pound owner and one of his guards were willing to take girls trackers had brought in from the wild, clean them up quickly, and the turn them around to vampire brothels or individuals who wanted a human cheaper than at the Human Containment Facility. After all, girls headed to brothels didn't need vaccinations – they would only live a few weeks. The pound owner took any human female without question, including girls who had been blood slaves, or vampire "pets", snatched from their owner's houses or yards. He would remove the identifying microchip all "pets" had implanted, and sell them to the brothels as well.

So I decided to get picked up by the same tracker who grabbed Marie, to see where he took me. Sure enough, we went straight to the Seattle pound.

Marie had already been bought, but an ally had found her. I had been here for two days, long enough to pick out the buyers and figure out enough of the process to know just who I had to kill to disrupt the "distribution chain." Hard to use such a cold commercial phrase when it comes to other humans, girls my age at that, but I had to think just like they did to figure out their process.

But now my tedium has been disrupted. Seems I have attracted a buyer, a vampire has shown up, and is staring at me. He has startling bronze hair, and I could see that he had green eyes back when he was still human. He had walked in, clearly looking for me; my scent must have drifted out the window onto the street. Once he saw me, he leaned against a wall and never let me out of his sight, while he started talking to the attendant.

It's freezing in here, I thought, staring back at him. They had taken my jeans, sneakers, Zeppelin t-shirt and windbreaker, and put it me an undyed cotton smock dress and a collar, after giving me an ice cold shower. Knowing I was going to be picked up, I had carefully stashed my backpack outside of town, and just been carrying a light bag with a few necessities that I didn't mind losing. The pound attendants hadn't even given me any shoes. So now I'm sitting here freezing in this unheated shelter during a wet Seattle summer.

Great, now I need to use the bathroom, or bucket in this place. I look at the vampire and then look pointedly at the bucket. He doesn't move his gaze from me. Oh good, a sicko to boot. I crouch over the bucket and do my business. I stare back at him.

After a few hours of trying unsuccessfully to negotiate with the various attendants, there is a shift change. The night guard, my future target for assignation for trading in humans, comes on duty. Once the vampire starts talking to him, they begin negotiating, the guard shrugging casually. They occasionally look at me then go back to hissing at one another in vampiri.

They quickly seem to come to an agreement, and as the bronze-haired guy makes a call on his cell phone, the guard walks away. Soon a third vampire arrives, wearing a suit, with a package for ole green eyes. Green eyes takes the package, and signs a clipboard. The guard comes back and is given something from the envelope. He gives the bronze haired vampire some form of paperwork then unlocks my cage and opens the door.

The bronze haired vampire leans in and puts a leash on the collar they put on me. I hate these things; as soon as I get out I'm taking it off. He gives the leash a tug, and we go out.

He leads me out of the building into the Seattle night. He still hasn't said a word. Man, he must be planning on killing me quickly, he isn't trying to make any kind of contact with me, even in in vampiri. Most vampires with blood slaves give them orders in vampiri. Well, when he lunges at me, he's going to be in for one big surprise. The human know how to fight.

He walks up to a silver Volvo and clicks the doors open with a remote. He opens the door on the passenger side, I get in, and then once I'm seated, he wraps the leash around the door handles.

He then gets in on the other side. Doesn't even turn on the heat, the s.o.b. Do I fiddle with the knobs on the dashboard or continue to play the part of a human who's never seen a car? I decide to play the part of the frightened human, so I shiver visibly then pat my stomach. "I'm hungry, master," I say in a pitiful voice. He glances over at me then keeps driving. Prick.

The mind reader checks in, thanks to my connection with my cousins, and tells me the jerk vampire's name is Edward, and he's hungry too. He's debating whether he can wait until he gets home and try to use the equipment to draw my blood, or just pull the car over along the side of the road and drain me on the spot.

Great. When we board the Edmonds-Kingston ferry, I'm left in the car, and Edward stands outside. He leans on the guard rail and watches the opposite shoreline, as the ferry makes its way to the other side. He gets back in the Volvo to drive off the ferry then merges onto the highway. Surprisingly, after about ten minutes, Edwards pulls into a gas station. He gets some gas and goes inside. I look through the window and see he has pulled a bottle of blood from the refrigerator unit, and is looking at a display of food for humans. I guess he's going to try to make it until he gets home after all.

I, however, am not going to wait. I decide to go for it and slip into the driver seat from the passenger seat, cutting off that god-awful collar. I start the car by pushing the ignition button and gun the motor. He's outside in a flash, but this gar goes from 0-60 in four seconds, so I lose him quickly. My last sight of him is watching him chasing the car as I flash down highway 104. Just like a dog chasing a car in the old days, I think.

As I drive along, I lean over to open the glove compartment and pull out the car's registration papers. I decide to return the car to its place of registration if possible. When I enter the address into the GPS, the GPS recognizes the address and show it already has this address as a pre-programmed setting for "Carlisle".

One of the main reasons I left the bronze-haired vampire alive was something my gift showed me. Whenever I meet a vampire, I get visions of their "human" past. This always includes their human death and change events and also flashes of their recent contact with humans. When the bronze-haired vampire's past flashed in front of me, I thought saw a vampire from my own past flash by.

In Edward's change event, I saw a blond doctor looking at him with concern in his eyes. The doctor picked him up from a hospital bed, carried him somewhere else, and bit him. That doctor looked like a doctor who had come to my Human Containment Facility and made an impression on my mother, years ago.

I had been in my "experimental phase", about eight years old. I was experimenting to see if vampires were truly invulnerable and truly immune to pain. So I was punching, hitting or stomping any vampire I could reach at any point on their body that corresponded to a point that hurt on my own body. So far, I had stomped a foot (easy target), kicked a shin (not as easy since they were starting to watch me), and gone after a knee and missed. Suckers were fast.

Of course, retaliation for my experiments was immediate and ruthless – the guards used their cattle prods on me in retaliation for touching them. After the first incident, my mother wrapped herself around me and she got the other jolts of electricity, making her scream in pain. I felt bad, but wanted to keep going. If I could find a point of vulnerability, maybe I could get us out of here. It would be worth it then.

On this particular day, all those years ago, it had been time to take me to see the doctor. As I sat on the exam table waiting for the doctor to come in, my mother was pleading with me to be nice, not to fight. I made no promises.

But the usual doctor didn't examine me that day. In walked a different doctor, a blond haired doctor. I had decided to go for his teeth, since I was up high on the exam table. What's the worst thing that could happen? Even if he kept them, I might get a bit of venom through a cut and get changed. Once I became a vampire, I could get out of this place and take my mother with me.

I watched as the strange doctor came closer. I was poised to strike, when he looked at my mother and said, "You have a lovely daughter, Mrs. Swan."

Mother looked startled, then happy, then about to cry. She stammered out, "Thank you," and I decided to submit to the exam without any experiments.

When we got back to our cell, she began telling everyone how the blond doctor had treated her like a gentleman used to treat a lady. He had treated her like a human.

I had never forgotten that doctor and had sometimes dreamed he would come back and take us both away to live with him.

Now, years later, I have just met his thirsty son. So, doc, I'm not killing your son, as a return courtesy to your kindness to my mother, years ago.

Back to the present, I keep speeding down the 104. Driving for such a long time while barefoot is a real bitch. And since I don't have anything to use for a driving disguise, such as a hooded sweatshirt, or scarf and glasses, I hope the tinted windows will keep out prying vampire eyes. Fortunately, there isn't a lot of traffic. I scroll through the radio stations, and find a blues station. It makes the ride a lot nicer.

I finally pull up to a large dark house outside of Forks. I would never have found it with the GPS lady navigating me.

A light rain is falling. I hope against hope that the rain will cover the sound of my heartbeat and footsteps as I leave.

I pull up by the house and park the car outside the garage. Of course the car lets out a 'ding ding ding' as I open the door. I grimace at the noise but climb out and start to walk back up the driveway quietly, my bare feet slapping a little in the puddles on the asphalt driveway.

In a flash, two vampires appear on the lawn. One, a big guy, gets directly in front of me.

I know I can fight them, but I decide to try talking first.

"Hi. Hey, you know, you make a better door than window. Care to step aside, like opening the door, and let a lady pass?" I ask.

He doesn't say anything, but I think he's kind of smiling. The voice that answers is a different matter altogether. "Care to explain how you came to be driving that car? Come to think of it, what were you doing driving at all?" drawls the second vampire, a blond male.

Holy crap, that looks like Major Jasper Whitlock! My C.O. (commanding officer) will be thrilled if I take him out. He's the last of the twenty vampires decorated by Aro and Caius Volturi in front of the entire vampire world for contributing to the successful Gathering of Humans in the weeks following the Event in July 2020.

OK, game on, I think. I need them closer. "Well, I had to borrow that car, so I was doing my good deed for today by returning it. Now, I'll take my leave. I'm sure you wouldn't want to return a courtesy on my part with a rudeness, such as killing me, on yours?"

The big guy dances his way backwards down the driveway, always staying just in front of me, while the blond vampire starts making circles around us.

I hear another car coming up the driveway. The car, a black Mercedes, is being driven with its headlights off. It stops just behind the big vampire.

"Welcome to the party pal," I yell as the car door opens. "We're just getting started."

The driver leans back into the car, turns on the headlights, and says in human, in a low voice, "Jasper, Emmett, what's going on? Who is this young girl?"

As the driver steps into the headlights, he walks towards me with his hands lowered in front of himself, saying, "I'm not going to hurt you, dear."

I yell back, "I thought that line gotten taken out of the vampire play book about twenty years ago when you didn't have to hide anymore…" then I stop as he steps fully into the headlights.

It's the doctor from all those year ago, the one who spoke kindly to my mother. I stop, pause, and stare without intending to.

But that was then, and this is now. I'm in the dark, in the rain, facing two vampires clearly on the hunt, and a third whose intentions I don't know.

They all seem to notice my stare and exchange looks. "Come inside, dear, it's raining out here, you're cold and wet. Come in the house, I won't hurt you, we'll get you into some dry clothes and we'll talk," says the doctor vampire alluringly.

A little too alluring, I decide.

"That I am wet is an observation on your part. Whether I am cold is an interpretation, and whether I mind being either cold or wet is not something you actually know about me, pal," I retort.

He looks surprised, and the big vampire chuckles. "Don't you have a coffin or something you should be lying in?" I snap to the big guy.

He roars with laughter at this crack, while the blond who looks like Whitlock growls.

I'm not done, I turn back to the doctor vampire. "And sorry, but I don't think I want to go into that house. I'm betting there's more vampires in there, right? Right now, I've got three vampires outside here with me, why would I want to go inside to make it easier for some lazy vampire who doesn't want to come outside in the cold to eat me?" This little rant earns another guffaw from the big guy.

"Dear, I won't hurt you. I don't drink human blood," he says. "Look, my eyes are yellow, not red. That's a sign that I'm an animal drinker."

"Actually, doc, your eyes are pitch black," I snap back at him.

"That's a sign of strong emotion," he beings.

"Looks like hunger to me. Is that an emotion? Maybe with you guys, your thirst is your ruling emotional state. By the way, how many humans do you have inside of that house right now?" I ask.

"None," he replies.

"Did you kill them? Are they all dead, maybe you got an opening I can conveniently fill?" I goad him.

"My wife and I don't…'keep' humans," he states simply.

"Really? How about him, or him?" I ask, pointing to the other two vampires.

"They don't live here anymore," he says almost sadly. "They used to live here, but that was almost twenty years ago. Please dear, I can't stand to see you so cold. You're not dressed for this weather," says the doctor, staring to circle me himself.

"Well, some jerk at the pound took my jeans, warm jacket and sneakers, and gave me this stupid slave smock to wear. Not my first choice for outdoor attire, but then I wasn't given a choice in the matter," I snarl back.

The doctor switches tactics. "Why don't we talk in the car," he replies. "I can turn the heat on for you."

His manners are better than his vampire son's, I think to myself. I walk around the car to the passenger side, and he flashes in front of me and opens the door. Once we're both seated inside the car, he slides off his coat and hands it to me while he starts the motor in order to turn on the heat. I put the coat over me then wiggle out of the wet dress underneath the coat, and toss the nasty thing out of the window.

I hear a cheer and low chuckle from outside, something about, "you go, Carlisle", from the big buy, no doubt.

The doc lowers his head then unbuttons his blue oxford shirt, takes it off, and hands it to me. I twist around and put it on under the coast. I really like the bit of his scent that I can pick up from his coat collar. I try to be discreet as I inhale it.

"OK, dear, what brought you to my house tonight? Is someone chasing you?" he asks.

I leave that last part of the question alone, and say, "I had to borrow that car," pointing to the Volvo, "in order to outrun a vampire that was chasing me. I wasn't stealing it; I just needed it to survive. So I was returning it to the address shown on the car registration in the globe box."

"Thank you," says Carlisle. I can tell there is communication going on too low for me to hear between Carlisle and the two vampires standing outside the car. The mind reader decides to chime in and tells that the big guy, Emmett, has called Edward to tell him that the Volvo is at the house. Edward has in turn told him about his runway human. Emmett is laughing, telling him, "Eddie, you got a live one."

The doctor asks if I saw the driver of the car.

Well, since he already knows, guess I'll out with it.

"The last time I saw the owner of this car, he was chasing it, and lost the chase," I begin, getting chuckles from the outside.

"But to back up, I was at a pound in Seattle. This guy thought he bought me, but he didn't. Whoever sold me to him didn't have the title, since he didn't deal with my owner. I had only been there two days; they are supposed to wait five days before releasing us to an interested buyer. I'm sorry he's out the money, but then he never asked me about my owner, or I would have told him. He never spoke a word to me at all. He just dragged me out of the pound on a leash, put me in that car and drove off. First stop he made, I switched from the passenger side to the driver side and drove here."

"Hmmm..." the doctor says. "Dear, my name is Carlisle Cullen. You may call me Dr. Cullen if you like."

"Thank you," I reply. "And my name is 99."

"99? Didn't they ever tell you what your mother called you?" he asks.

"My name is 99, and I'm proud of it," I answer, dodging the whole issue of my mother.

"Well, Miss 99, I notice you called me 'doc' a little while ago. Have we met before? How did you know I was a doctor?" Carlisle inquires, peering a t me closely.

"The car registration and GPs indicated you were a doctor," I lie. I'm a terrible liar, and I know it. I think he knows it too, but lets it pass.

He leans a little closer, "Are you sure you won't come inside? It's late…" he beings alluringly.

"Now I know you're not trying to dazzle me," I snap. I cover my mouth and nose, lean away, and start to open the door.

"I'm sorry," he answers, then locks the door.

"You bugger," I snap.

He doesn't answer but puts the car into drive and quickly pulls into the garage.

"I'm not going in there," I state firmly. The door from the garage to the house opens, and a beautiful vampress with caramel hair and a heart shaped face appears in the door, backlit by the light from the kitchen. She looks like a 1930's movie star.

"Carlisle?" she asks. "Who is your guest? Why haven't you brought her inside?"

She walks up to the passenger side, and Carlisle rolls down my window using the master control.

"Hello, dear. Wont you come in?" she asks.

Why not. If I have to kill them all, I might as well get this over with. So I get out and follow the pretty lady vampire inside. Carlisle walks in behind me and closes the door. I hear the door's lock click softly behind him.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. I WILL FORWARD ALL REVIEWERS EXCERPTS FROM THE SECOND CHAPTER.


	2. Chapter 2

Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight, I don't. Sob!

This story is an outtake from my story "The Insurgency". These two chapters show an alternate version of the introduction between Bella and Carlisle, and replace chapters 7-11 of "the Insurgency". I had originally intended this to be a one-shot, but it's turning out to be a bit longer than I thought, so this is the second, and final, chapter.

Chapter 2: From the Garage to the House

We enter the kitchen, and I hear a click behind me as Carlisle locks the door to the garage. They know I can drive a car, and he isn't taking any chances with that Mercedes.

The vampires Carlisle addressed as Jasper and Emmett are already inside. Carlisle asks them to start a fire in the fireplace in an enormous living room, while he takes me to a bathroom. He draws a bath and says his wife is going to find me some clothes.

I get into the tub and soak for a minute, luxuriating in the warm water.

The door opens, and the vampress comes in, carrying some leggings, a large sweater top, and some ballet flats. No privacy for the human, I guess. At least she's a girl, too.

"These belonged to my daughter Alice. She left an extensive wardrobe in her old room, though she moved out years ago," comments Carlisle.

Just then, the bathroom door opens yet again, and Emmett sticks his head in. "Edward wants to talk to you about this girl…" he begins, addressing Carlisle.

"Do you mind?" I yell. "I am a girl, after all. Don't you have any manners?"

Emmett laughs and closes the door with a wink.

I realize Edward could be here soon; I'll have to deal with theat. I give up the nice warm soak and start to climb out of the tub. Carlisle is waiting with a towel and dries me off. He won't let me take the towel out of his hands, so I give up and just hold still.

We go back downstairs, and I have another opportunity to take in the understate dignity of this beautiful house. Carlisle notices my gaze and begins to speak about his house casually.

"My wife, Esme, whom you met at the door, did all the decorating. We have lived here for many years."

At the foot of the stairs, Esme meets us and holds out her hand. "My name is Esme. I am pleased to meet you," she says warmly.

"Um, likewise, and my name is 99," I blurt out lamely.

We cross the room and take seats in chairs that have been placed by the fire. "I have turned on the heat, but it may take a little while to warm up the room," Esme states. "This is my son Emmett," she says motioning to the big vampire, who grins widely at me. "And this is my son Jasper," as she gestures to the blond vampire I've already recognized as Major Jasper Whitlock. The Major holds himself stiffly throughout the exchange, but nods his head as he is introduced.

She and Carlisle have a quiet exchange, too low for me to hear, then Esme turns and sends Emmett outside.

"My son has gone to get you something to eat. We don't often have human company, so I don't have anything to offer you."

"Please don't go to any trouble on my account," I begin the conventional reply.

"I couldn't think of you going back out into the cold," she states simply.

I turn back and look at the fire, now roaring in the large fireplace. I scoot closer, since I love fires. I can't often have them in the wild; the smoke draws vampire hunters and trackers. I stare quietly for a while.

The flames flicker, so I know a door has opened. I look up, and there's the green -eyed, bronze-haired vampire standing in front of me. I bite my tongue, trying to stop from saying anything. I decide to let him speak first.

Carlisle and Edward seem to be having some kind of mental exchange, without using words, and then Carlisle sighs and turns to me.

"I believe you've met my son Edward, who neglected to introduce himself properly at the time," Carlisle prompts.

Edward continues to stare at me without saying a word. Great, just like Seattle.

"Edward," coaxes Esme, "be a gentleman to our guest."

"How do you do?" he chokes out.

I take the high road. "Quite well, right now." I hear a hiss, I think from Jasper, and a chuckle from old giggle-box Emmett, who has just returned with a bag in his hands.

Esme glides over to Emmett and takes the bag from him, then moves into the kitchen. A few seconds later, she must have called him, too low for me to hear, since he looks in that direction then disappears into the other room.

I'm guessing, from the rattling sound of the bag, that he brought the dried food normally given to humans in captivity.

"Really, I don't need you to trouble yourself about feeding me," I call into the kitchen. I don't want to be rude, but I'm not eating that cat-food stuff like they fed me at the shelter.

"But dear, you need to eat," says Esme, returning to the fireplace at vampire speed.

"I do eat, just not the dry food they give humans in captivity. On my way to Seattle, I had eggs from a bird's nest, there are fish in the river, and berries in the trees. Wild scallions grow along the road to use when cooking the fish, I saw rabbits, and there are mushrooms and other plants that I eat. There's a rich natural world out there, full of healthy food."

Just then, Edward pulls a package of biscuits out of his pocket. Must have been the ones he was eyeing in the gas station outside of Seattle. He hands them to Esme.

"Thank you, dear," she says, and disappears back into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she comes back with a plate, with the biscuits carefully arranged in a circle. I take the offered food, saying, "Thanks." I start to yawn, and try to cover it up.

Carlisle sends Jasper and Emmett upstairs, and I soon hear some thumping noises overhead.

"We're setting up a guest room for you to sleep in," begins Carlisle. "It's through my office, and I'll be in my office during the night, if you need anything."

Watching over me. Then again, maybe this way it will be harder for Edward to sneak in to the room and get a chance to bite me while I'm sleeping.

"How do I get in contact with your owner," continues Carlisle. "He must be very worried, especially if he is looking for you at the pound. Why don't you give me his name, and I'll call him so he can come pick you up."

I glance up, and realize they are all waiting for the answer to this question. "I don't know his name," I state simply. "He just shows up from time to time."

"You don't know his name, dear?" asks Esme.

"Well, your son didn't introduce himself to me until you asked him to. In a similar fashion, I don't know his name. I know who he is, but his name has never really been an issue. He kind of appears to see how I'm doing, and then goes about his business, leaving me to go about mine," I answer.

"You live alone?" asks a puzzled Esme.

"I don't live alone, exactly. He has given me the freedom to do what I want, and go where I need to go. All humans have to have an 'owner' under the laws of your world. Though the rules prescribe certain treatment for humans, not all vampires follow those rules. Most vampires do, however, and in accordance with the rules keep their humans locked in houses and feed them dried food at starvation levels so they won't have the strength to fight or try to escape. Blood slaves are generally fed just enough to keep them alive so the vampire can drain their blood periodically."

I hear a shuffle from Emmett, and pause, while Esme whispers something to him. "Please continue, dear," she says encouragingly.

"Some vampires allow humans to live with them in dignity under their roof, talking in a human language to them, allowing them to read, etc. Then some vampires allow us to go our own way and do our thing. My vampire allows me the freedom to be me," I say. I don't mention that in my case, that means the freedom to go fight in the resistance movement. I don't know these folks well enough to give out that little tidbit.

Edward immediately turns to Carlisle. "We have no way of verifying if that is true. Does she have a microchip? The pound said she didn't. Are we just supposed to believe that story? She's mine, Carlisle. I paid for her, and I want her."

"No," answers Carlisle. "She is going to stay here with me until her owner comes. You are not removing this child from under my roof, and that's final."

Edward begins to growl, and Carlisle narrows his eyes at him. "Go get something to eat Edward. You're not thinking clearly. If you can't act appropriately, you cannot re-enter my home while she is here. You're supposed to be my son; it's time you remember who you are."

"Come dear," says Carlisle to me, "I'll show you to your room. You must be getting tired."

He leads me upstairs, and he opens the door to a large room, clearly a study. The study is lined with bookcases and is dominated by a large desk in the center of the room. This room has a fireplace as well, and any walls not covered by bookcases are hung with paintings and other works of art.

I immediately notice a fine oil portrait of the Volturi brothers, and what appears to be Carlisle standing with them. This nice doctor seems a bit less innocent now. Esme introduced Jasper Whitlock as their son, and he has a portrait of himself with Aro, Marcus and Caius hanging on the wall of his study. What have I stumbled across, Volterra West?

We walk through the study to a door that opens onto a bedroom. It appears to have been just set up. That must have been the thumping noise I was hearing from downstairs. Wonder what was in here before?

The room has a small canopy bed draped in deep plum-colored curtains, a matching dresser with a mirror, and a wing backed chair that matches the bedspread . No windows. He's not taking any chances.

"I hope you'll be comfortable here," says Carlisle. He shows me the way to the bathroom, where I brush my teeth and wash my face, and then we return to the room.

There are pajamas laid on the bed. I change quickly and crawl under the covers. "Good night," says Carlisle as he switches off the light. "I'll be in the next room all night, if you need anything."

I try to sleep, but of course I can't with all these vampires in the house. The covers are warm, and the bed is soft, so I drift off occasionally, but it never lasts. Without windows I can't tell if it is daylight outside yet, but I guess hours must have passed.

Finally Carlisle knocks quietly on the door, and opens it. "Couldn't sleep? I'm sorry, maybe you can nap later. Would you like to get up and come downstairs to eat?"

He takes me back to the same large bathroom for a repeat of yesterday's bathing experience. I don't get left alone for a moment. I get dressed in the clothes he brings me, and we go downstairs.

Esme has a bowl of hard boiled eggs on the table, with the biscuits remaining from last night on a fresh plate. It looks like somebody got sent out to climb trees in the night in order to raid the local birds' nests. I hope it was Edward, and that he ripped some of those designer duds he was wearing.

We go into the living room. Emmett's back, and there are now two new vampresses as well, a beautiful blond wearing an unbecoming scowl, and a small vampress with black hair, who is lying under a blanket on the sofa. On first glance, it appears she is suffering from the Blood Sickness. I've never seen the fatal vampire sickness at this early stage before.

I wonder what to do; it doesn't look like Carlisle is thinking about letting me walk out of here. He has been kind; maybe I should contact Crazy or one of the allies, and have them show up with some paperwork. Crazy's back in the Bahamas, I would hate to disrupt her trip. She wouldn't hesitate to set Edward straight, so it might be fun to have her come by.

Emmett pats the seat next to him inviting me to join him in playing a video game, so we start playing. Rosalie, the blond vampress, snarls when I sit next down on the sofa. Humans aren't allowed on the furniture under the rules. I always wait to be invited to sit down before sitting anywhere. If I'm still standing after a certain period, I just leave.

It turns out I shouldn't have worried about contacting someone to come get me.

As Emmett and I are sitting on the sofa playing the game, suddenly all of the vampires turn and begin to snarl. Another vampire had come in the house without knocking, and apparently they didn't hear him until he was in the living room. It's the tracker I met in the wilderness, the one who took possession of my papers after killing the vampire who had bought my mother.

He has just walked into the room and is standing over me, holding several bags and a box. I didn't hear him come in and apparently neither did the Cullens. He ignores them completely and holds out the blue backpack I had stashed outside of Seattle. I take it, and say "Thank you."

He nods then hands me a clear plastic bag containing the clothes that had been taken from me at the pound, including my jeans, shoes, t-shirt and jacket. _This is better than Christmas,_ I think. I grab my clothes and smile up at him. He has another backpack slung across his back. He brings this one down and sets it gently by my feet. He always brings me a backpack filled with clothes, new shoes, and other necessities whenever he finds me.

He then hands me a long flat box which is warm to the touch. "Be careful with those, little one. They must stay warm, and there are fragile, just like you." His voice sounds like it always does – like he is imposing his voice on his breath, as if he is not used to talking. I take the flat box gingerly and hold it on my lap. He leans over and strokes my hair with one of his fingers, then straightens back up.

His fingers are long and yellow; on hands that seem a bit large for his body. His nails are long and very thick, curved almost like claws. He has never hurt me though. His eyes are a very deep, yet flat, black. They almost appear to be a gateway to some other place. Some place that if you go, you won't be coming back.

Next, the tracker hands me a small brown shopping bag with handles, and I can smell the aroma of baked food coming from inside. I look inside, being careful not to move the box on my lap, and pull out a – muffin? Still warm!

He turns to the Cullens, who appear almost frozen in place. He opens the worn leather jacket he is wearing, pulls a set of folded papers partially out of his pocket, pats them, glances at Edward, and then leaves. He's gone at vampire speed. There is a soft thump on the porch as he vanishes.

"Well," I start, "I didn't hear any of you asking him his name. You can see what I mean; it just never seems to come up. He just shows up and then leaves." Carlisle lifts an eyebrow, and is obviously thinking about saying something, but doesn't.

Jasper goes out to the porch and returns with a large, lumpy burlap bag.

"What's in that?" asks Carlisle.

"I'm not sure, smells like corn and other grain. Almost like some type of animal feed," replies Jasper. He slits it open with one of his finger nails.

Emmett goes over to the bag, peers in and exclaims, "That looks like chicken feed!"

Everyone is now looking at the box on my lap. I guess I better open it. As I pull off the top, I find a warming blanket, which I lift carefully. Inside, nestled in towels, are three eggs. "What the heck…" I say, startled. I don't know what I expected, but it certainly wasn't eggs.

"Those smell like chicken eggs, and I do believe they are about two days from hatching," says Carlisle. "I can hear faint heartbeats."

"Now what am I going to do with chickens? I can't travel with these…"

"Precisely," says Carlisle, a smile growing on his face. "Where exactly were you going, when you were picked up by the pound?"

"Actually…" I can't tell them I was on an undercover mission for the resistance, especially since it was a bit of a rogue op as the human council had ordered me to stand down. "I hadn't exactly decided where I was going, I kind of got, um, kicked out of the last place I was living." That was close to the truth – I had been kicked out of my own war.

"It looks to me as though he would like you to stay here," Carlisle says gently. "He brought you eggs so you will have setting hens, who will lay more eggs. That's not the type of thing you travel with. I would like it very much if you would stay with us, my dear."

I just wish Carlisle had thought of that all those years ago, and that he would have taken my mother and me out of the Human Containment Facility while she was still alive.

"Look, he's never tried to tell me where to go, or where to live. I won't be foisted off on you, or anyone else, because of some chicken eggs…" I start to stutter. What's going on? I like Carlisle, but the rest of this coven I'm not so sure about. And why would the tracker do this? In the past he's just shown up, given me a new backpack, and vanished into the wilderness, like a ghost.

"What is in the other backpack, honey?" asks Esme.

"Oh, usually clothes and some dried food," I reply as I carefully move the eggs off my lap and reach for the backpack. It is very heavy, and I can hear something sloshing around of it. I open it up and find it filled with bags of flour and sugar, some foil covered sticks labeled 'butter', a gallon of milk, and dried powders in hand-labeled tins. Esme picks up the backpack and walks to the kitchen. I set my box with the chicken eggs on an end table next to the sofa and follow her.

She pulls everything out of the backpack and arranges it all on the kitchen table. Each item has a label showing where it was purchased, including the address and phone number.

Emmett is the first to break the silence. "Looks like you're staying, kid. Welcome home!"

This is the end of this alternate version of the first meeting of teen-aged Bella and Carlisle from my story The Insurgency.

I have some episodes that weren't included in my story, and I may post them separately at a later date.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN MY STORY.


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